It was (naturally) psychotic around here — a little upside down to say the least.

If they weren’t sleeping here, then we were driving to see them where
they were staying (an hour away at Nana’s house), and that was just to
rendezvous.

The day’s actual agenda would range anywhere from local parks, to sandy
beaches, to Canada Day celebrations, to monstrous theme parks (Canada’s Wonderland:
despite the early-onset of gastro-intestional pain, missed
rendezvouses, vertigo, nosebleeds, feared migraines, and not enough time
in the day, you were surprisingly good to us).

And we’ve been riding this whirlwind approximately once a year since the kids were born — it gets easier every visit.

Years ago I learned to put a laundry basket of possibilities in the back
of the van; backup clothes including PJs, bathing suits, towels,
underpants, short and long sleeves for every family member, and
just replacing whatever we’ve used from it each day. It’s been a
godsend, not needing to pack and repack for each outing, simply
replenish the snack cooler and jet...

In years past, this visit was a longer (closer to three weeks), but with
all that distance between us and North Carolina, we’ll take what we can
get. Those girls are absolute gems, and Mr Lannis’ sister and her
husband are the kind of warm, hilarious, and laid back people everyone needs in their lives.

Truly, they make me feel blessed.

All the running around and kid-wrangling has got me thinking, though,
about what makes these visits so successful. Somewhere along the line,
quietly, without discussion, Rhonda and I have made an agreement when it
comes to these five adventurous kids...

It has never mattered who belongs to which kid — if they are
hungry or need to go to the bathroom, you feed them and take them, no
question or thought about it. Granted, we establish food allergies first
off, but after that there’s no, "well, go ask your mom," kind of
foolishness.

We each discipline our own kids (unless, say, it's a violence-related
infraction, in which case whoever is supervising the kids deals with it
instantly, of course — and these issues, thankfully, are few and far
between).

But food, drinks, and bathroom breaks? Especially in big public places like Wonderland? Just handle it.

We'll ALL benefit from the even blood sugar and lack-of-accidents... ha!